Within or Without Hope's Happiness/Steadfastness

2 Cor.1:20

For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. 

And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.

2 Peter 1:4

Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, 

so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, 

now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Romans 4:21

...being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

God's promises and commands are non-negotiable! 

If either one were, then hope's anchor would be loosed!

Heb.6:18-19

Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, 

we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us 

may be strongly encouraged.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure...

In Christ Alone

So much of life seems hung/strung from threads of-if-perchance-perhaps

Its care and strife can crowd our heads with visions of collapse

The volatility of all we see needs something More

To anchor Hope, and make the call of life worth living for

So much of joy seems tried by grief and disappointment's sting

The thoughts that we employ are chief of almost everything

Praise God! His Portion is enough to trump the soul's appeal

We are not at the mercy of the roll of fortune's wheel 

So much of what leaves us most awed transcends Thought's grandest ken

For all the promises of God are 'yes' in Christ. Amen 

So then, above all else we ought to feed Thought with God's Word

His promises, Perfection-wrought will keep hope undeterred

So much of what we fix our eyes upon is bound to fail

Where touch and taste and such disguise the Prize that will prevail

Where worldly lures of 'happiness' disillusion hope, when

They disregard God's promises of 'yes' in Christ. Amen

So much of bitterness of heart is caused by Thought amiss

What/Who we most love serves to impart hope's Fountain or abyss 

Praise God! When creature-quest is founded/grounded within truth and grace 

Of 'yes' in Christ, the rest is bound to fall in perfect place 

So much of what appears goodness, without the knowledge of

The power of God's promises, disenchants hope and love 

Without the Rock of God's commands, what-if, perchance, perhaps

Erects a house upon time's sands, predestined for collapse 

There is no in-between the lines of divine Yes and No

Oft lack of humility pines where praise should overflow 

But, if hope seeks its steadfastness/happiness within God's commands, then

It stands firm on the promises of 'Yes, in Christ'. Amen 

 

Janet Martin

Ps.119:19&32

I am a stranger in the earth:

hide not Thy commandments from me...

I will run the course of Your commandments,

For You shall enlarge my heart.

or NIV trans.

I run in the path of your commands,

for you have broadened my understanding.

Standing on the Promises - Alan Jackson - Lyrics

First 'Things' First

Almost every time I face this screen

there is a battle between good and evil;

God and man...

When I succumb to the pride of fear or timidity

my words, whether written or spoken are sorely-flawed and lacking

'For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Tim.1:7

So here's to a new week of seeking God first,

Knowing we can cast our cares on Him

because he cares for us, qualifies us, equips us for

whatever befalls...

We are human; we fumble and stumble oft,

but when we give it all to God, 

He works through our weakness for His purpose and glory!

(for when we are weak, then we are strong!)

2 Cor.12:10

If eloquence is self-assured

Relying on the confidence

Of material knowledge-secured

Through life's school of experience

If the expression of our thought

Is restricted by mortal choice

Then we cannot think as we ought;

'God, tune our hearts to hear Your voice'

If we, without humility

Approach the podium of speech

How very wary we should be

Of what we are about to teach

If, without God to intercede

And take the lead, our gab to gird

We are ill-qualified indeed;

'God, tune our lips to speak Your Word'

For, if we live and move and have

Our being stayed in God, so great 

Then, by His eloquence we brave 

The charge of The Immaculate 

Aware of our rightful place

A vessel fit for service when

We rely on His truth and grace 

'God, help us seek You first. Amen'

Janet Martin

Acts 17:27-29

God intended that they would seek Him 

and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him,

 though He is not far from each one of us. 

‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’

 As some of your own poets have said,

 ‘We are His offspring.’...

Read the whole glorious chapter HERE

Care-cure

Matt.11:28-30

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” ~Jesus

1 Pet.5:6-7

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,

 that He may exalt you in due time, 

7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Matt.6:34

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about its own things. 

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. ~Jesus

Today's devotion was a timely command and reminder for me!

Maybe it will be for you as well...

Whether personally, 

or in our immediate families, 

or extended family,

or friend-'family' or church-family, 

or community-'family'

there are immense cares and needs, aren't there?!

There is a cure for care

In a world trouble-torn

There is a steadfast solace where

Courage can be reborn

There is a cure for care

(for care is bound to be)

And we all need a refuge where

Fear and dread’s shadows flee

When disappointments sting

When pain and loss oppress

When body and soul suffering

Afflict hope’s happiness

There is a cure for care

Where faith and mercy meet

God bids us come to Him in prayer

And lay them at his feet

His feet, scarred with prints of

The cross of Calvary

He beckons with unfailing/undying love

‘Come, cast your cares on Me

My all-sufficient grace

Will prove faithful and true

Through every creature-care you face

Because I care for you

Pour out your humble plea

Each burden that you bear

Until, with joy you taste and see

There is a cure for care

Janet Martin

Oh Lord, how we need Your guidance,

Your provision and Your perfect will to work in us;

in every resisting, erring, selfish, doubtful, impatient part

work your wonder in our hearts!

Near to the Heart of God

JIM REEVES HAVE THINE OWN WAY LORD 

As We, Want's Cases Plead

Lord, where we err

 in our thinking, 

teaching, serving, 

seeking, worshipping, 

reveal it unto us!

Lord, wherever

 and in whatever circumstance

 we find ourselves today, 

you care for us!

Lord, a deeper fear 

and thus love for thee, 

work in us

Thou, Holiest of holies 

and Best of the best

***

Romans 8:17
And if we are children, then we are heirs: 

heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—

if indeed we suffer with Him, 

so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ 

not only to believe in Him,

 but also to suffer for Him,

James 1:2-3
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, 

when you encounter trials of many kinds, 

because you know that the testing of your faith

 develops perseverance.

Acts 5:41

So they departed from the presence of the council, 

rejoicing that they were counted worthy

 to suffer shame for His name.

A bud is but the waiting room

of the unfolded Flower...

A prayer is like a bud; it's bloom 

awaits its perfect hour

Last week my neighbor-tots eagerly bent over buds

While I reminded them; 'no picking!'

Yesterday they 'visited' me while I was working.

suddenly shrieks of delight were heard!

The buds had turned into flowers!

Oft we want answered prayer

Without full-yielded hearts

In our logic, oft we err

Where trust its test imparts

Oft we want finest fruits

Without Love's pruning rod

 To tear away at sinful roots/shoots

That choke the Word of God 

Oft we defend the cure

Without probing the cause

Until motive is wholly pure

Without self-serving flaws/clause

Oft we want faith's reward

Without faith's suffering

As witnesses for Christ, out-poured

Like a drink-offering 

Lord, show us where we err

As we, Want's cases plead

Teach us to trust as you prepare

Faith's fallow ground, for seed  

Janet Martin

Philippians 2:17
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering

 on the sacrifice and service of your faith, 

I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

Of Seeming and Certain

First an update on the prayer requests HERE

Dad is being released from the hospital today!

and the family that moved to their new home

 made it safely to their destination yesterday evening!

Thank-you for your prayers!

Yesterday our youngest grandson turned four!

A little over a month ago our granddaughter turned 7!

in Jan. our oldest grandson turned 9!! Wh-a-at?!

Our children/grandchildren cannot begin to grasp how much they are loved;

by God, their parents and grandparents!

Just as we, all God's children cannot grasp how much we are loved by Him!

As my utmost prayer for my children continues, that they would choose God; 

to love, trust and obey Him, to treasure His Word and his people,

so too is my prayer for my grandchildren! 

I pray that in the twists and turns of life's pathway, 

in the fumbles and stumbles of learning, 

in the crushing blows that fell pride 

and in the disappointment of Things,

they discover over and over again, 

just like (hopefully) us oldies, Rom.11:33

'the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!'

3 John 4

 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children (and grandchildren)

are walking in the truth.

We need not fear; God sends the test, our allegiance to try

His is the hand that tips the nest and teaches faith to fly

His seeming cruelty is love; He takes to give again

His purpose works in us to prove His faithfulness. Amen

We need not doubt the baffling blade that breaks desolate land

When disappointment's shares invade, behold, there is God's Hand

He ploughs to plant an Eden-clime in plots of pain and grief  

To loosen grips on Things of Time that are, at best but brief 

We need not dread the Hand that tries the ties of mortal whim 

To see if perchance we may prize this old world more than Him

God's seeming cruelty is love; His higher thoughts and ways

If we believe, will prove enough to burst our hearts with praise 

We need not know the holy why of Time-framed seeming loss

The cocoon veils a butterfly! before the crown, the cross! 

Before the flower garden, oh, the breaking of the sod

The surrender of letting go, to know that He is God

To lean on Him in grateful prayer, to worship truthfully 

*Praise rends the chains of dark despair and sets our spirits free

To trust in God, heart, soul and mind, when we don't understand

He tips the nest so that we find the cradle of His Hand

God's seeming cruelty is love; look at the cross and see

Beyond the 'seeming hour of defeat', the victory 

Beyond the fallen tear, bowed head, when death the champion seems

Behold, where once the seed seemed dead, a glorious harvest gleams

Janet Martin

Oh, how painful God's ploughshares in our 'hard acres of the heart'!

Oh, how worth the harvest to let Him sow His seeds! 

But oh, how lifelong is our learning to let go;

and how lifelong is our wonder/worship when we do! 

Harbinger to the Feast

Ps.139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Since 2019 our church family has suffered many

sudden losses and very deep grief and comfort,.

The above verses have become my heart's cry

as I call on the name of God,

as we learn to wait on the Lord

without answers to His thoughts and ways...

as we truly, humbly learn the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane;

Luke 22:42

yet not my will, but yours be done.”

But in our suffering God has never failed!

Ps.68:19

Blessed be the Lord,

Who daily loads us with benefits,

The God of our salvation! Selah

Matt.6:26

Look at the birds of the air; 

they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

 and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Luke 21:28

 Now when these things begin to happen,

look up and lift up your heads, 

because your redemption draws near.”

Lift up your head;

Do not despair

The fruit beyond the famine waits

God grants the bread

Of answered prayer

To we who hold out hallowed plates

Until the hour

is fulfilled

And Christ alone is our plea

Until His power

Has instilled

Worship’s unmarred humility

And dashed to naught

Want’s willful pride

That hinders the blessing withheld

Until each thought

Is self-denied

And every erring appeal felled...

Hark! Catch the hum

Of rumbling trains

Heaped with the fruit of yielded will  

No lin’gring crumb

Of Self remains

To stay the feast God joys to spill 

Janet Martin

Proverbs 17:3
A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, 

but the LORD is the tester of hearts.

Tip o' Faith's Hat to Teachers (aka troubles/trials)

My dad, recovering from surgery is well enough

to be transferred to a local hospital today! PtL!

Today's poem is a reflection on 'good teachers' we don't always recognize,

(in their under-appreciated disguises)

 and also inspired by a sentence in today's devotion

that really hit home in light of lessons our family

 is (hopefully) learning about the wonderful, sufficient grace of God!

We feel like we have been shown grace over grace!

Thank-you for your part in this grace

through your prayers, flowers, messages etc!

John 1:16

From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

We should not, though they vex and test intentions, plans and preference

Expel the ‘teachers’ God deems best, to authorize epiphanies

Through lessons we would never choose to suffer through experience

That introduce us to the views of Dry-ground Paths through Parted Seas

We should not, but we oft fall prey to logic’s finite theory

Because God’s Higher Thoughts and Ways appoint purpose none can preempt

Where severe ‘teachers’ God assigns to educate humanity/humility

Seem ruthless as they prune the vines that else would grow wild and unkempt

We should not but we often fail to trust the ‘teachers’ God ordains

To show us, through trouble’s travail, a love by mercy justified

Of soul restored through comfort of the rod and staff His grace constrains

As He administers His love to counter fear and rebuke pride

We should not but oft fix our gaze on prizes we behold with eyes

Forgetful of how sight betrays confidence placed in what we see

God’s ‘teachers’ may seem harsh and rude; His goodness hard to recognize

While perfecting faith’s greater good, through thorough tests of misery

We should not cross bridges before we reach the chasm that they span

Nor reject lessons that restore the soul that else is prone to stray

Nor expel ‘teachers’ He anoints to save us from the ways of man

Though the drill stings and disappoints, behold the cross, trust and obey

Because each cross that God allows is always anchored in His grace

Each lesson the ‘teacher’ bestows is to prove love’s fidelity

With humbler gratitude, lest we become forgetful of our place

Unworthy beneficiary of the triumph of Calvary

Thus, we should not despair when we suffer and face trouble’s increase

But with thankful humility, recognize God’s redeeming love

Then trust the ‘teachers’ He deploys to draw us to His fount of peace

To cheer us with unrivaled joys that this old world knows nothing of

Janet Martin

Marvelous Grace (Grace Greater Than Our Sin)

Sufficient Evidence or Veiled, Yet Sufficient

Here He is again with compassions that fail not and

mercy new every morning!! 

Lam.3:22-24

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Ps.145:17-18

The LORD is righteous in all His ways

and kind in all His deeds.

The LORD is near to all who call on Him,

to all who call out to Him in truth.

God continually grants fresh opportunity

to teach and reveal Himself to us through trust-lessons!

When crises comes pray we remember,

'The eternal God is y(our) refuge, 

And underneath are the (His) everlasting arms... Deut.33:27

At this point

I cannot divulge details in the prayer request I am sharing

but will you pray for my niece J today and the attending doctors

and her family?!!

Update; J is back home but continued prayers appreciated!

Creation declares and extols God’s glory and preeminence

We stand in awe as we behold veiled, yet sufficient evidence

While God replenishes hope’s cup of joy with divine sympathy

He who is perfect bears us up on arms we sense but cannot see

The troubles of this world abound; but cannot confound humble praise

The power of the cross is sound; without it we are castaways

The suffering that Christ foreknew and yet forsook His throne to bear

Death on a cross to save all who believe, is love beyond compare

Sufficient is the part we see to warrant steadfast trust in Him

Through each heartbreaking tragedy; through all we deem cruel and grim

He does not leave us comfortless; But through His Spirit and His Word

He manifests His faithfulness to keep faith’s courage undeterred

The LORD, righteous in all His ways sustains sufficient evidence

To counter doubt when loss dismays the dream with deep disappointments

Or when life’s dire strait alarms, and faith would faint as fears increase

Beneath, His everlasting arms; within, His hope and perfect peace

Janet Martin

What God Hath Promised (God Hath Not Promised Skies Always Blue)

  

To Trust or Fret...

Matt.11:28-30

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest. 

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls. 

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

There is no merit in worrying about tomorrow, is there?!

Nothing we anxiously suppose can change

 what waits to be, where the unknown spans.

But, there is great merit in considering what will be 

and taking great care as we make choices, 

looking not only to its immediate gratification, but to its ripple effect. 

Children will be influenced by their environment;

what they hear and see.

They will learn, often when we think not!

They will grow up, Lord willing,

They will search for truth!

We all will give account for what we do/did

with what God gives/gave us; life!

The choices we make matter eternally!

Rom.14:12

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Ps.130:3-4

If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,

then who, O Lord, could stand?

But with You there is forgiveness,

so that You may be feared.

To hide the Word of God in our hearts

so that He can speak to us through His word

will equip us to guard our heart and mind

from enemy forces such as worry, pride, discontentment,

discouragement, doubt and bitterness.

(oh, how He loves us!!)

And His word will equip us to shine His light/love

and speak to others about Him.

Thy Word is Like a Garden, Lord (lyrics by Edwin Hodder)

To fret about the 'yet' that hails

Beyond the holy ground of 'Now' 

Is to blaze phantom, futile trails

Through scenes God may never allow 

To hide God's word within our hearts

Will anchor, instruct, cheer and gird

Then, with sound doctrine He imparts

We will not fret but trust his Word

To trust His word of truth and love

Will grant us courage to proceed

Content to know it is enough

To know God will supply our need 

Whatever today's dues deploy

Wherever we may hap to be

Pray God unfurls a hymn of joy

Because the truth has set us free

...from fretting where a yet-bent tide

Eddies and foams and whorls and seethes

Where goodness and mercy abide

To fill the trusting heart with peace

This life is full of cares and fears

Unknowns are full of untold 'yet'

His Word alone comforts and cheers

We choose to either trust or fret

Janet Martin

Ps.138:8

The Lord will [a]perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

More Love To Thee - Fernando Ortega

To Put Our Trust In Thee, Oh God...

Deut.29:29

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, 

but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, 

that we may do all the words of this law.

So much in life we will never understand!

Our church family is mourning the loss of our pastor

who passed away suddenly yesterday afternoon!

Please keep his family and our church family in your prayers 💔🙏

Our hearts are broken, so broken...

Phil.4:19

But my God shall supply all your need 

according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

A timely devotion from Springs in the Valley...

Psalm 78

The first stanza of the poem below poured through me

as I was (reluctantly) waking up this morning...

Thank-you God!

To put our trust in Thee, oh God

Is to release the ‘why’

For human acumen cannot

Thy thoughts and ways descry

To put our hope in Thee, oh Lord

Is never in sad vain

Because the beacon of Thy Word

Will never shift or wane

To put our faith in Thee alone

No matter what life brings

Is to entrust each gale and groan

To mercy’s hidden things

To trust and hope, by faith in Thee

Oh God, is to release

All we can never know or see

Into Thy perfect peace

Until the glad and glorious day

When Soul sheds dust-to-dust

And time like mist shall melt away

In Thee we put our trust

Janet Martin

Psalm 143:8
Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, 

for I have put my trust in You. 

Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.

Psalm 62:8
Trust in Him at all times, O people; 

pour out your hearts before Him. 

God is our refuge. 

Selah

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, 

and in His word I put my hope.

Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call (Psalm 42) 

With Lyrics By Matt Boswell and Matt Papa

Ps.42 Hope in God

My Anchor Holds

Modern-day Miracle

It doesn’t all get fixed and made right until the very end.

 Until then? It is hard, and He is with us.

Dorcas Smucker~ Presence and Presents~

Author of Notes From The Sparrow's Nest

Below Devotion from Pathways to His Presence 

by Charles Stanley

SO many people I love are being tried by hard circumstances, 

common to this broken, sin-cursed world,

but difficult as ever!

The Miracle-worker of old is the Miracle-worker of today!!

Oh pray that we call on Him until we hear Him say

'Son/daughter, Thy faith has made thee whole.

Go in peace...' Mark 5:34

It is not often up to us

To pick and choose the hues of life

The path of day-to-day runs thus;

Through golds and grays of joy and strife

The unpredictability

Of what we can see, but in part

Invites us universally 

To trust in God with all our heart

For circumstances rise and fall

Poverty and prosperity

Both contend with the beck and call

Of love's accountability 

We pick and choose hues of reply;

Whether we will acknowledge He

In all our ways, who knows the 'why'

That He withholds from you and me 

Today's Altar of Sacrifice

Invites us to believe in God

Who paid pardon's ultimate price

And sheds His saving love abroad

...where, though it is not up to us

To choose the ups and downs that spill

The path of joy and peace is thus;

To hope in God and trust His will

Because until we shed the part

That cradles the immortal soul

To trust the Lord with all our heart

Will prove the faith that makes us whole 

What age-old joy, to go in peace

Because 'Thy faith has made thee whole'

What modern-day miracle, this;

To rest in God's perfect control

Lord, bid obedience begin

With godly fear, humble and true

The miracle You work within

Starts with my/our faith and trust in You

Janet Martin

For each of life's let-downs there is  a 'look up'!

Rom.5:1-5

Therefore being justified by faith, 

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

 2By whom also we have access by faith

 into this grace wherein we stand, 

and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: 

knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

 5And hope maketh not ashamed; 

because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts 

by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Jeremiah 17:7-8
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, 

whose confidence is in Him. 

 He is like a tree planted by the waters 

that sends out its roots toward the stream. 

It does not fear when the heat comes, 

and its leaves are always green. 

It does not worry in a year of drought,

 nor does it cease to produce fruit.

Prov.3:5-10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall [b]direct your paths.

7Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

8It will be health to your [c]flesh,

And strength[d] to your bones.

9Honor the Lord with your possessions,

And with the firstfruits of all your increase;

10So your barns will be filled with plenty,

And your vats will overflow with new wine.

I know I've shared this hymn many times,

partly because it is a fav. 

I love the picture the words paint,

resting in the cleft of the Rock!

Sweetly Resting (In the Rifted Rock)